French Exceptionalism: the Impact of Laïcité

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French Exceptionalism: the Impact of Laïcité University of Mississippi eGrove Honors College (Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors Theses Honors College) Spring 5-1-2020 French Exceptionalism: The Impact of Laïcité Rachel Culp Follow this and additional works at: https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis Part of the European Languages and Societies Commons, Religion Commons, and the Social History Commons Recommended Citation Culp, Rachel, "French Exceptionalism: The Impact of Laïcité" (2020). Honors Theses. 1481. https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis/1481 This Undergraduate Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Honors College (Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College) at eGrove. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of eGrove. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FRENCH EXCEPTIONALISM: THE IMPACT OF LAICITE A Thesis By Rachel B. Culp This thesis is presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts in International Studies at the Croft Institute of International Studies and Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College at the University of Mississippi. University, Mississippi May, 2020 Approved: Advisor: Dr. Robert Brown Reader: Dr. William C. Schenck Reader: Dr. Emily Fransee ©2020 Rachel B. Culp ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First, I want to thank Dr. Robert Brown. When I first emailed Dr. Brown many months ago while studying abroad in France, I had an idea in my head of what I wanted to research, but no path forward. Without his guidance, patience, and belief in this project, I am not sure if this thesis would have ever been completed, and I know I would not be half as proud of the final project as I am today. You were the best advisor and first reader I could have imagined, and I will miss our meetings, especially getting to catch up on US-politics for the last few minutes. I want to thank my parents for their support. They instilled the value of education in me at an early age and have never doubted my potential as a student or person. I was especially grateful for their support in the final stages of my thesis as I struggled with the adjustments that had to be made due to the global pandemic. Mom-thank you for the many hours spent watching Great British Baking Show to provide a necessary distraction. Papa- thank you especially for your edits. I know you are ready to never read a word I have written again! I also want to thank my friends, especially my fellow Croft peers. I am grateful for all that spent extra time reading through drafts of my thesis, listened to my complaints and anxieties, and always reminded me that we would finish our theses together. A special thank you goes to Ms. Liz DuPerier who has been one of the foundational role models throughout my time at the university. You are so appreciated by all of us. Finally, thank you to Dr. Schenck and Dr. Fransee for their additional commentary and support as my second and third readers. Dr. Schenck, thank you for always responding to my emails with a sense of calm and helpful guidance that I needed. Dr. Fransee, thank you for the many meetings in your office spent brainstorming sources and French legislation. I so appreciate your willingness to jump into this project with me with zero hesitation. I hope I have produced a thesis that you are all proud to read. iii ABSTRACT This thesis explores the impact of citizens’ attitudes toward religious freedom on their attitudes toward four socio-political issues: abortion, same-sex marriage, importance of Christianity to nationality and whether Islam is viewed as incompatible with nationality in a Western European context. I focused specifically on France, Germany and the UK as these countries represent three distinct approaches to the separation of religion and government. I aim to isolate and investigate the impact of the concept of laïcité, the French interpretation of secularism, and see if laïcité and attitudes toward laïcité impact citizens’ attitudes differently toward socio-political issues. My research found that laïcité does have a differential impact on attitudes toward abortion, importance of Christianity, and compatibility of Islam. The effect on same-sex marriage was not statistically different in France relative to Germany and the UK. Overall, this research shows that laïcité does have a different impact on attitudes in France with respect to three socio-political issues and aims to further investigate the notion of Islam’s compatibility, or incompatibility in Western European countries with freedom of religion for all citizens. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements ………………………………………………………………………. iii. Abstract …………………………………………………………………………………… iv. Table of Contents …………………………………………………………………………. v. Chapter 1: Introduction & Literature Review ……………………………………………… 1 France ………………………………………………………………………………. 6 Germany ……………………………………………………………………………. 7 UK ………………………………………………………………………………….. 9 Summary …………………………………………………………………………... 10 Chapter 2: Introduction to Issues Issue 1 ………………………………………………………………………………. 12 Issue 2 ………………………………………………………………………………. 16 Issue 3 ………………………………………………………………………………. 21 Issue 4 ………………………………………………………………………………. 24 Chapter 3: Quantitative Analysis Research Design ……………………………………………………………………. 27 Issue 1……………………………………………………………………………….. 30 Issue 2 ………………………………………………………………………………. 39 Issue 3 ………………………………………………………………………………. 45 Issue 4 ………………………………………………………………………………. 50 Chapter 4: Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………… 56 References ……………………………………………………………………………59 v Introduction Religious Freedom Religious freedom is a contested and difficult term to define. The Bouvier Law Dictionary defines freedom of religion as, “the freedom to practice or change one’s own religion or not to believe in or practice a religion at all” (Bouvier Law Dictionary). This definition comes closest to addressing the current debate of what freedom of religion encompasses, including debates about the wording and usage of “freedom of religion,” “freedom for religion” and “freedom from religion” (Sharffs, Moaz, and Wooley, 2019). Based on the literature presented by religious freedom scholars in “Religious Freedom and the Law: Emerging Contexts,” I will use the definition of freedom of religion. I begin with an examination of Western European countries and how they have chosen to allow religion, restrict religion, and manage religion, thus encompassing the idea of both freedom for and freedom from religion in the concept of freedom of religion. James Richardson argues in his research that religious freedom is socially constructed, which is what makes it so difficult to define and understand (Richardson, 2015). He cites the notion that “some religiously pluralistic societies are being called on to ‘manage’ or ‘regulate’ religion, a development that by definition places limits on religious freedom” (Richardson, 2015). Governments justify the management of religious freedom in an effort to maintain peaceful coexistence of religious groups. In my research, I will provide an overview of how different countries have chosen to address freedom of religion and management of established religious institutions. Having described the relationship between government and religion in these countries, I will then examine the possible impact of these different context on attitudes toward social and political 1 issues. Specifically, I will be using data from Pew Research Center’s 2017 study, “Being Christian in Western Europe,” to examine the impact of citizens’ attitudes toward separation of religion and government on the following issues: women’s reproductive rights, specifically the legalization of abortion; same-sex marriage legalization; attitudes toward Christianity as an important part of national identity; and whether or not Islam is viewed as incompatible with national identity. My approach will be to compare attitudes in France, Germany and the UK in order to isolate hypothesized contextual effects that suggest the impact of attitudes toward separation of religion and government will be different in France, due to the effects of the concept of laïcité. Although I analyze data from Western European countries, the majority of literature discussing freedom of religion begins with a focus on the United States and the First Amendment, which changed pre-existing understandings of freedom of religion and its application. Prior to the First Amendment, freedom of religion reflected a system in which the church and state “were two interrelated institutions that jointly governed society; the society was monolithic just as the state was” (Shariffs, Moaz, and Wooley, 2019). Schariffs, Moaz and Wooley cite Michael Novak and his argument that the First Amendment of the US changed previous interpretations of freedom of religion because it actually prohibits Congress from making any law that “protected an established religion” (Sharffs, Moaz, and Wooley, 2019). Alfred Stepan in his research, however, challenges Novak’s understanding of freedom of religion when he notes the First Amendment only prohibits Congress as a whole from establishing one official religion. Each of the thirteen colonies was in fact able to have their own established religions (Stepan, 2000). Stepan makes this clarification because he believes the “strong” wall of separation between church and state considered to be prevalent in most Western civilizations, of 2 which the US is a prime example, is actually a misinterpretation of freedom of religion itself. Stepan coins the phrase “twin tolerations,” referring specifically
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